Growing your Basil even faster. The paper towel method.

Use soaked water as liquid fertilizer

When it comes to growing your own Basil plant, it’s never more satisfactory growing them right from the seeds.

Growing Basil with the paper towel method

Take nearly a spoon full of Basil seeds which can be either store bought or the ones bought online. Do check the last eligible date of the seeds before you sow.

Now put them on a paper towel and nicely wrap them around.

Things to remember:

1. Do not take too many seeds at once, measure accordingly so the seeds don’t overflow the paper towel when folded.
2. Ensure best quality seeds, and not the ones which are going to expire in a few weeks or a month over.
3. Take a normal thickness paper towel which is not too thick to moisten the seeds and not too thin to just get torn upon getting wet.

Storing the seeds in a box

Once nicely wrapped, place them in a plastic box, or a plate or any small container so you can wet it and leave some moisture around the seeds wrapped in.

Things to remember:

1. Remember to just wet the paper towel/napkin, and do not drench it in water.
2. If you take a covered box/enclosure ensure a little air passage to maintain humidity.
3. Do not use any pen / ink or marker on the paper towel to name them, they may contaminate the seeds with the ink.
4. Keep shifting the paper towel up after 5-6 hours and down to ensure air passage.

It’s equally more important to leave some good air space in the container you chose to avoid building up of mold and fungi over the moistened paper / napkin.

Sprouting of the seeds

Now after about 2-3 days depending on the level of moisture you created, the tiny seeds will sprout and show up like the ones below.

Some seeds may germinate / sprout and show nice leggy seedlings forming along with tiny brownish roots under the whitish seedling stems, while some may not. But hey! Don’t just throw them out, some seeds take longer than the rest to sprout you see. Good things take time 😊.

Things to remember:

1. Handle them with care, be delicate 😊
2. Some seeds may not sprout, put them into the growing medium they will eventually after a few days.
3. Be careful with the roots.

Picking the seedlings:

Now carefully separate all the seedlings if they are sticking around with each other as next we are going to put them in the growing medium. While you pick up the seed lings make sure you do that very gently by their tiny leaves or with a picker making sure not to break the tiny stems or disturb the roots.

Things to remember:

1. Be careful with the roots, be gentle
2. Pick the seedlings by the leaves not the stem or the root.
3. If the roots seem to be stuck into the paper napkin sprinkle water on that area and gently pull the seedling away from the paper.

Transplant the Basil seedlings:

Now to transplant the young seedlings you can either opt for a cocopeat growing medium or a mixture of cocopeat with perlite (optional) and compost.

An ideal composition for a well-set growing medium can be 70% cocopeat, 20% perlite (optional) and 10% compost. This essential mix will give your young seedlings enough water they need to grow in and a good amount of fertilizer during its growth until ready to be transplanted into a bigger pot.

Things to remember:

1. Do not over do the compost, the seeds generally do not need too much of the fertilizer at this stage even, so a little would do wonders 😊
2. Perlite is optional or use vermiculite

Once the medium is ready, spray a little water on it to make it damp and not too wet. Now carefully with the help of a toothpick or a small stick make tiny holes to stick in the young seedlings. Ensure that the holes are not too wide and not too thin so the seedlings can slide in just about with no effort and can remain well settled in the new surroundings.

Once the holes are ready, you can start transferring the tiny seedlings into the wholes one by one carefully handling them.

Things to remember:

1. Do not press the seedlings rather shove them down with the toothpick
2. Do not place too many seedlings next to each other, as they will grow as plants in a few weeks’ time needing more space before being transplanted.

Placing the seedlings in well-lit area:

Now it’s important to place the growing medium container in a well-lit place or a window with partial sunlight for about 4-5 hours a day. Now the seedlings need good amount of sunlight to catchup and grow as fast as they can. Trust me they would love that sun now. But hey, don’t over do the heat else you may end up burning your darling seedlings.

Growing other seeds with the paper towel method:

We normally grow all of our tiny to medium sized seeds by the paper towel method.

Things to remember:

1. Do not put too many seeds together in a box / plate.
2. Watch out for fungus so it does not eat up the seeds
3. Do not over wet the papers, just spray water
4. Let there be air 😊

Conclusion:

Everything takes time and practice, so remember even though this is a faster way to grow basil from seeds you do need to be patient once the seedlings show up. They will take their own sweet time to grow in good light and humid conditions. While growing seeds even tiny than a basil seed, ensure you do not use a very thick paper towel so the seeds can breathe. Even though the germination rate and time of paper town method is more and faster than sowing bigger seeds in the growing medium directly sounds and works as a better idea, but nevertheless you can always use the paper towel method for any type or size of seeds.